Crowdsourcing newcomer gets R2m cash injection

Delvv.io, a new player in the South African startup space, has raised funding of R2-million to accelerate its efforts at using the crowd for market research.

Entering an increasingly competitive market, Delvv.io aims to redefine how the clients and agencies get feedback during the creative process.

According to press release sent to Ventureburn, the global market research industry, valued at US$45-billion, is dominated by a handful of incumbents who have not kept pace with changes in demographic shifts, media consumption habits and online technologies. Traditionally, the process to test an advertisement takes 60 days and can cost upwards of R250 000.

Delvv.io aims to change that by giving brands and agencies acess to thousands of top creative talent from across Africa to test campaigns for local relevancy, “mitigate against cultural risk and optimise their creative to local markets”.

“The old saying that half of all advertising is wasted has a lot to do with poor targeting. The truth is that that most campaigns are neither tested nor adapted to suit the needs of the local market ­particularly here in Africa,” says Delvv.io co-founder and former Springleap MD Trevor Wolfe. “This is not because brand managers and agencies don’t know better –­ they do –­ but the existing tools make it harder, not easier to tailor to different demographics and markets. We’re working to change that.”

The funding, which comes from veteran investor Kevin Gaskell, will be used to accelerate its efforts on this front.

“Delvv.io is addressing a market which is ripe for disruption ­ not only in terms of pace and cost, but also in terms of quality local insights,” said Gaskell, a former Managing Director of both BMW and Porsche GB. “By leveraging the power of the crowd to access expertise from across the continent, delvv.io is giving brand managers a way to properly localise campaigns in a way that won’t break the bank. I see this as a major opportunity and I’m excited to be getting in on the ground floor with these guys.”

Delvv.io’s flagship product, Sense Check, allows clients to get feedback on their concepts and campaigns from online panels of creative professionals across Africa. According to the release, a client uploads their creative (website, video ad, animatic, mobile app, etc) and the platform will identify the 30 most relevant creative professionals to provide 1­2 hours of analysis and actionable feedback.

“We believe the technology we are building, as well as the access to thousands of in­market professionals, will save our clients’ millions of dollars in wasted media budget on ineffective advertising campaigns,” says Geyser.

News of Delvv.io’s funding comes at the same time as the startup gets ready to represent South Africa at the upcoming Endeavour Global program. The
event will be hosted in Spain this month where it will present to a panel of global experts, including senior executives from Facebook, Twitter and Google. FNB has also announced the Delvv.io team as a finalist in its 2016 Innovation Awards.